Posts by The John Maxwell Company
PERSISTING THROUGH ADVERSITY
When JK Rowling began to write her first novel, she was a single-mother pent up in a tiny flat in Edinburgh, Scotland. Struggling to make ends meet, she scraped by on a meager public welfare check provided by the state. In the solitude of her desperate situation, Rowling even contemplated suicide. Rowling’s saving grace and…
Read MoreLEADERSHIP JUDGMENT
The outcome of a sporting event sometimes is heavily influenced by the judgment of an official or umpire. For instance, with game two of the playoff series between the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat tied 103-103, Celtics guard Rajon Rondo drove toward the hoop for a layup. Dwyane Wade of the Heat appeared to whack…
Read MoreJUDGING HOW TO SPEND TIME AS A LEADER
At the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, swimmer Michael Phelps broke the world record for the most gold medals won by an individual during a single Olympiad. In the 100m butterfly, the race in which he tied the world record by collecting his seventh gold, Phelps won in a photo finish. In fact, to the naked…
Read MoreFASHIONING AN EMPOWERING WORKPLACE
“In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.”~ Thomas Jefferson As consumer tastes change, so must companies, or else they quickly become extinct. As a clothier with 150+ years of history, Burberry has had to reinvent itself to stay relevant in the digital age. Best known for…
Read MoreEMPOWERMENT: PUTTING THE ODDS IN YOUR FAVOR
In America’s 50 largest cities, the high school graduation rate is 53%. Nearly ½ of students do not earn a diploma within four years of starting the 9th grade. Not finishing high school adversely affects a person’s life in numerous ways. For example, dropouts are far more likely to be unemployed or imprisoned compared to…
Read MoreCOMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE THROUGH PEOPLE DEVELOPMENT
Are those with fortunes simply fortunate? Do our life circumstances depend more on fate or choice? Are leaders born or made? Harvard economist Michael Porter looked at these questions from the standpoint of national economic performance. Why do German engineers, Swiss chocolatiers, and Japanese electronics manufacturers enjoy a competitive advantage over the rest of the…
Read MoreHOW LEADERS DEVELOP
Leadership is not an exclusive club reserved for those who were “born with it.” The traits comprising the raw materials of leadership can be acquired. Link them up with desire and nothing can keep you from becoming a leader. Some people have a more intuitive grasp of how to lead than others. These “natural-born leaders”…
Read MoreCASTING A CLEAR VISION IN UNCERTAIN TIMES
Americans dream of a political leader with the wherewithal to erase the government’s budget deficits, slash its debt, and restore its international reputation. As enormous, or even impossible, as the task sounds, Anne Mulcahy performed a similar feat during her ten-year tenure at Xerox. As CEO, she took a near-bankrupt brand, whose name had at…
Read MoreTRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP
How did you spend summertime as a child? Perhaps you have memories of vacationing with your family, playing baseball or softball, attending summer camps, or swimming at the pool or lake. Eight-year old Khadim spends his days at a brick kiln, working to pay off a small debt inherited from his deceased parents. However, he…
Read MoreINVENTIVE THINKING
Disheartened after another day of failing to connect with his students, the young teacher trudged upstairs to his office and slumped down at his desk chair in defeat. He was angry, and he had every right to be mad. After all, his boss at the YMCA had assigned him a seemingly impossible task. He had…
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